by Elaine Huang

HUNTINGTON, WV – This Halloween weekend, first-years Elaine Huang (’19), Connor Burwell (’19), Lauren Wisniewski (’19), and Sarah Pungitore (’19) struck fear not with their frightening costumes, but with their freakishly impressive performances at Marshall University’s Annual Speech and Debate Tournament.

On Saturday, Connor, Sarah, and Lauren all competed in the novice division of Lincoln Douglas Debate, debating four rounds, while Elaine threw herself into the open division of Lincoln Douglas Debate for the first time, enduring six rounds. It was her and Sarah’s first time competing in the novice division of Extemporaneous Speaking, and Connor’s first time competing in After Dinner Speaking. Lauren competed in Poetry for the second time. An exhausting day ended with a rewarding announcement–Connor Burwell had advanced to the final round of Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate!

On Sunday, Connor gave an astounding performance against Simpson College’s Kelly Clark. Though he lost the round on a 3-0 decision, the debate was incredibly close. Later, the team found out Sarah and Connor had both advanced to the final round of their respective speech events. In finals of Extemporaneous Speaking, Sarah gave an analytical speech about Africa and Boko Haram while Connor delivered his hilarious and insightful After Dinner Speech about co-ed fraternities.

Sarah and Connor both received 6th place for their speech events, with Connor also receiving an award for Top Novice in ADS. Lauren received Top Novice for her performance in Poetry, as well as first speaker in Novice LD. In addition to winning second place in Novice LD, Connor also claimed the title of second speaker. All in all, it was an amazing learning experience for the tiny, but formidable Lafayette force at Marshall!